FooMojo Closes $9.9 Million in Series A

FooMojo announced today that it had closed a $9.9 million Series A round led by SoftBank Capital and SoftBank Corp. The company, which exited stealth mode today, creates realistic virtual pets for social networks, the Web, and the iPhone. It's also currently developing a virtual world for users to mingle with their pets. With a seed round raised last year, FooMojo's total funding comes to $10.7 million. The current Series A round was closed at the end of September, which CEO Ron Hornbaker notes, was especially fortunate ahead of the market crash. FooMojo is already seeing revenue from its Facebook app, Pokey, and Hornbaker told me the company was not currently looking for more investment.

"Japan was the birthplace of the virtual pets phenomenon and I witnessed first hand, the amazing success of the Tamagotchi driven from the basic fulfillment of virtual companionship,"  Masayoshi Son, founder and CEO, SoftBank Corp., said in a statment. "FooMojo has taken the model to new heights of realism and technology by creating virtual pets that evoke a strong emotional bond with owners and are portable across social networks and devices. FooMojo is creating the next-generation of virtual pets and I expect the company to lead the category."